Radiation induced F1 sterility in Lepidoptera for area-wide control

Very high doses of ionizing radiation are required to induce sterility in Lepidoptera, but fully sterilizing doses are detrimental to the reproductive competitiveness of the insects and so irradiated males are much less able to compete for mates. It appears, however, that inherited sterility can be induced in all Lepidoptera species by means of radiation doses that induce only low levels of sterility in irradiated individuals. In this way the detrimental effects of irradiation on reproductive performance can be largely avoided, and the irradiated males are able to compete for females with their wild counterparts. This is the basis of radiation induced F1 sterility for genetic pest control. These proceedings include thirteen papers on different aspects of F1 sterility, with emphasis on laboratory experiments to determine the dose of gamma radiation required for inherited sterility. The individual papers have been indexed separately. Refs, figs and tabs